Published 2:20 pm, Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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Beneath the din of soccer leagues and digital screens, have-tos and must-haves, Bernadette Noll quietly proposes 75 simple ways to slow down, connect and create more joy in her new book, "Slow Family Living" (Perigree; slowfamilyliving.com).

The idea came to her after she and a psychologist friend in Austin, Texas, Carrie Contey, presented a workshop for couples on creating a family mission statement.

"The thing that kept coming up was (that) people were feeling pressured to do things a certain way or do things they didn't want to do," Noll said.

Some "Slow Family Living" tips from Noll:

Keep it informal. If a soccer league cultivates dread, disconnection and fatigue, drop it and substitute family games at the park or playground.

Bonus fun if adults join in. You probably don't recall who raced beside you in the 100-meter dash in high school. Bet you would remember if your rival had been your mom.

And if you don't have a ready-made team and want/need a scheduled outing for the motivational aspect? Consider signing up for a parent-child karate, swim or art class.

Rate of STDs among young raises concerns

In the heat of the moment, it's a good bet sexually transmitted infections are the last thing on a teen's or young adult's mind. Thus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, young people ages 15-24, who make up just more than one-quarter of the sexually active population, account for half of the 20 million new sexually transmitted infections that occur in the U.S. each year.

With this being Sexually Transmitted Disease Awareness Month, officials are emphasizing efforts to educate teens and their parents about the public health issue to slow the spread of diseases among young people. In addition to providing testing, some localities are using social media to help inform the public about treatments, prevention strategies and the need to get tested.

"It is a sobering reality that so many young people are infected with STDs and even more startling, the number of these young people who aren't even aware of it," said Dr. Patrick O'Neal, director of health protection at the Georgia Department of Public Health. "Our goal is to reduce incidence of STDs and the disparity in numbers of young people infected, and cutting down sexual transmission of STDs."